Kid Austin Explains Why He's Not Afraid To Risk Unbeaten Record

With 19 professional bouts at just 23 years old, Floyd Schofield, aka Kid Austin, is one of the most intriguing young fighters out there right now.

While he still has a perfect record, his career hasn't been without controversy, as he has had to withdraw from multiple fights in recent years.

Schofield had been one of the most active boxers in modern memory over the past few years, fighting an unheard-of seven times in 2021 and four times in 2022 and 2023.

As the competition got tougher in 2024, Schofield fought only twice, but 2025 was by far the most trying year of his career as injuries forced him to withdraw from his highly anticipated February clash against pound-for-pound list staple Shakur Stevenson and another November bout against JoJo Diaz.

Boxing fans couldn't wait to call Schofield a duck who avoided those two fights, especially the Stevenson one that was supposed to pit two Northern New Jersey natives against each other in Riyadh.

Instead, Shakur was forced to face a much lower-profile fighter in Josh Padley, who took the fight on just four days' notice. Meanwhile, Kid Austin only fought once last year, knocking down Tevin Farmer twice in the opening round to secure the first-round KO.

So after three straight years of unprecedented activity, at the end of June, Schofield will have fought just one round professionally in 12 months.

Kid Austin's father/manager has been very vocal about the fights he wants his son to have. Father Austin has called out every big name from Devin Haney to Shakur Stevenson to Tank Davis for a fight.

At 19-0 Kid Austin seems eager to put his unblemished record on the line against the best in the business, courage that these days seems to be more of the exception rather than the rule as the top fighters maneuver to protect their lossless records.

Schoefield explains why he's risking his impressive record

This week on The Last Stand with Brian Custer podcast, Schofield explained the thinking behind his lack of concern for the purity of his record.

When asked about fighting Tank Davis now instead of waiting until later in his career, Schofield said, "At the end of the day, it's my career. I want to be great. I'm not trying to wait until I'm 28, 29. By that time, Tank is pushing 40. I gain nothing from that. I want to win this fight when nobody thinks I have a chance to win."

He expanded on that mentality later in the interview, saying that if he loses to a top fighter at this stage in his career, it doesn't matter in the long run.

"I had nothing to lose," Schoefield said to detractors who claimed he pulled out of the Shakur Stevenson fight because he was scared. "The whole boxing world was saying that I was gonna lose, I was going to get stopped. I had nothing to lose, I had everything to gain. So when people say oh you ducked, you pulled out… why? So people were just like crazy when they were accusing me of that, because like I said, I had everything to win."

I had nothing to lose. If I lost, people would have said, 'Oh well, he is young.'

Maybe it's because I'm getting older, but that last comment rubbed me the wrong way when I first heard it. But when I played it back, I realized that not only is Schofield right, but that is exactly the right mentality to have as a young fighter.

The older a boxer with a perfect record gets, the more concerned they are about keeping that record pristine. But if you're going to lose a fight to a high-profile opponent, you might as well do it when you are young.

Bold fight decisions are a Golden Boy Promotions trait

Schofield is signed to Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions, and I realized that Schofield isn't the only fighter in that stable with that same mentality.

Ryan Garcia has multiple losses on his resume, including a devastating knockout loss to Tank Davis when he was 24, and his career hasn't suffered because of it at all. In fact, it only made him a bigger name.

Another GB fighter, Xander Zayas, is 23, like Schofield, and he is fighting Boots Ennis next month, who is considered one of the best boxers in the world, putting his unbeaten record on the line. It seems there is something in the water at Golden Boy, where their young stars understand that now is the time to take risks with their careers. It's a smart strategy that ensures maximum exposure with little downside if they lose.

Kid Austin no longer has to campaign to fight Tank Davis, as the WBA has officially ordered the latter to defend his title against Schofield, their number one contender. The two have until June 22 to reach an agreement.

So Schofield looks like he will be getting exactly what he wants. And even if what he wants comes with a loss, there's a good chance he will win in the end because youth is on his side.

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This story was originally published May 27, 2026 at 7:03 PM.